L.A. Road Trip

(Jon)

Jason exclaimed “Pack your bags – I’ve lined up a trip to L.A.!!! We’re leaving in three days –you down?”

Sign me up! Poor Frasier was only given 12 hours notice – but feeling inspired he instinctively knew this wasn’t a trip he could miss either… Our plans were to fly to California and pick up a friend’s Subaru and drive it back to Seattle. Keys were waiting and the car was already stocked up for the road trip; ice chest, drinks, apples, chips, car inverter, etc… Did I mention a full tank of gas? This road trip was definitely gift wrapped and we planned to make a lifelong memory out of the opportunity!

(Jason)

When I over heard my dad talking about how he was going to have fly down to LA and drive home his girlfriends daughters car I was all ears as if I just heard the wining numbers to a lottery ticket that I was holding in my hands. Within seconds I had worked out every detail in my mind, and had visualized exactly what it was going to be like and next thing I know they agreed to pay for my ticket to fly down to LA and help with gas on the way back. As one could imagine by this point I am completely buzzing with electricity and within seconds I was on the phone with Jon selling the idea to him, which was the exact opposite from selling Ice to an Eskimo. Next thing you know Jon and I were discussing what this trip was going to be like and it felt like something or someone was missing from the equation, and then a light bulb turned on in my head "Frazier!" I exclaimed out loud like I was an umpire yelling a strike. That was it, he needed to come, and as quickly as I thought it, I called him and he was sold as well, just as I had hoped. After working out some details, by nine at night Frazier had his golden ticket and it had finally solidified, he was flying with us in less then ten hours from that moment. Done deal.

As we flew down on the plane we began talking about how Jon and our buddy Joe had been on a road trip a few years back and made a "To Do" list of things that they had to do on the trip, and how it had the most epic road trip of their lives full of crazy stories, and so we decided, as we sat in our seats on the plane, to make up one of our own. We got really loud and into making this list and I'm sure that everybody within a couple rows of us new exactly what we were going to be up to once we touched down in LA. We arrived in LA not knowing exactly what the plans were, except to have one hell of a road trip, which thanks to the list we exceeded our expectations with flying colors.

Arriving at Venice Beach was like arriving to the promise land, full of beautiful woman, cool people, and of course the Pacific ocean. It was hard to believe that we had finally made it. I was especially excited because this was a dream come true for me. Ever since I was a little kid growing up skateboarding I have always dreamt about what it would be like to skateboard in Southern California and now my dreams were coming true. By the end of the first day at Venice Beach, we had talked to probably a hundred girls trying to find an Amy, skated Venice Beaches renowned skate park, had a few drinks with Rae and Elizabeth (two couch surfers that recently graduated from UCLA), met three really cool German girls and danced with them for hours at a lifeguard tower we dubbed 'Club Baywatch'. Eventually we made our way back to the Subaru in the parking lot where Jon, Frazier and I were all going to sleep. By about four in the morning Jon decided that sleeping in the middle of Frazier and I in the back of the car was not working out, especially since Frazier and I were able to turn off to our sides and he was stuck on his back because none of us wanted to spoon. I guess he could have flipped onto his stomach, but that still would have involved at least a little sporking and that isn't cool either, good times!

The first thing that was on my mind as I woke up was, I need to surf, because I had never done it. As I surfed, I was thinking this isn't as hard as everybody says, that's until I fell flat on my face into the ocean's current, but then I got up again no problem, I guess I'm a natural, or maybe just the adrenalin was flowing so thick through my veins just as heroin was flowing through Jimmy Hendrix's in the sixties. After we washed up (rinsed off under the public outside shower) We went straight to a few of the tourist stops like Beverly Hills, and Hollywood, and then we headed to North Hollywood to hang out with one of Frazier's family friends Jillian Nelson, who is a beautiful actress that has starred in numerous music video's including Toby Keith's "God love her" and Rascal Flatt's "Take me there" to name a few. Now Frazier, Jon and I are really excited, as one could imagine, and don't want the day to end. After a day of hanging out grilling on the barbecue, and swimming in her private rooftop swimming pool with this big time actress it was time to move on. The next stop was our Couchsurfing friends place in West L.A. (whom by the way even though we had never met him before he still left a key for us so we could get in if he wasn't there). That's the magic of Couchsurfing, the automatic friendship is invaluable and very precious in today's world. After a night of conversation evolving around Jason's worldly travels, sharing laughs, our night trip to one of the many taco trucks in the area, and a day hanging out with a beautiful Hollywood actress we were dead tired and crashed out for the night.

Waking up the next day we decided that it was probably about time that we start heading north since we were suppose to be back in a few days and we had only covered 10 miles of our 1200 mile journey. We hit up a few more beaches like Redondo, Manhattan, and Zuma beach. At Manhattan beach Frazier found a plum tree and decided it would a good idea to not only steal a plum but then steal some water to wash off the plum-two separate houses. Some call him a thief; I call him Robin Hood.  It was time to go, so we headed straight up the 101 headed north toward Santa Barbara. As soon as we arrived, we whipped out bread, banana's and Adam's Peanut Butter and made ourselves  peanut butter and banana wraps. Of course the first order of business was to find tree's for our hammocks, and so we found a perfect spot down by the harbor and city park, and made ourselves at home. I was super stoked because these tree's happened to be right next to one of the best skateboard parks that I have ever skated. As we were walking on the boardwalk back toward the car one of us noticed three good looking young girls and of course we said something to them and next thing you know they are buying us pitchers of beer. Coincidence maybe, but more likely it came true because we put in on "The List".

While we were at the bar that night, one thing led to the next and then I found myself on one knee in front of the this bar crowd (probably 20 people or so) asking a random girl if she wanted to marry me. After about a three second awkward pause, and silence, she said yes. So now the whole bar believes that I just asked this girl to marry me and so of course every body is clapping and congratulating us, even though in reality this was just one of the to do's from "The List." So now she is on cloud nine and so she begins dancing and doesn't stop for probably two hours straight, even though she was the only one on the dance floor. I guess the deal is, we are going to get married in five years if neither us our hitched by then, we'll see!


Continuing up the coast we stopped in Santa Cruz for a couple of hours, and then made our way up north to San Fransisco. Accidentally we headed straight toward the Golden Gate Bridge but we weren't meaning to cross it at all. There is a toll so we start freaking out and looking for an exit, which we found at the last second. After meandering our way back toward the city on back streets we headed straight for China town for food since Frazier speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese and we were starving. We found ourselves a little place that had reasonable prices and then sat ourselves to a table. After a few minutes of being ignored Frazier yells aggressively across the restaurant in Mandarin, which by the way was full of Chinese people, "Hey! We need food so quit ignoring us and get over here!"  or something to that effect and within seconds the room was silent, no more clanking forks, just blank stares looking at us in disbelief, especially since we are the only three white guys in the place. According to Frazier, whom by the way has spent four years in Beijing, that's how you have to be, or else nothing will happen. That or he just wanted Jon and I to feel extremely uncomfortable, I'm not sure. After this, we met up with our new German friends, Anissa, Lynda, and Eva for a little reminisce, and then we were back on the road with Frazier driving through the night until early morning fueled by high octane gas station coffee and it was worth the risk, according to Frazier!

The next day we woke up, started driving north on I 5, and made our way through Oregon country. For most of the day Jon would be passed out in the back seat in some of the most uncomfortable napping positions that we have ever seen, while Frazier and I discussed me moving to Beijing to teach English  for a few months in the winter. Arriving to the city we miss the exit and have to make a round about, and then we miss the exit again and so we repeated the process once again, the blind leading the blind one might say. Portland Oregon with all of it's splendor was awaiting the arrival of the Hammock Brothers, and we were happy to entertain. The night consisted of many great memories like the exchanging of the shirts with a stranger, taking a photo of us with a blond, brunette, and a read head, and finding an Amy of course. Thanks to the list, it provided more then enough entertainment for us as for the people of the streets in Oregon. But, there were still "To Do's" and so the best memories of the night were still to come.

One of our "To Do's" from "The List" was to freestyle battle with at least one person, even though we have no rap skills. We had no idea it was going to turn into a ten person all out rap war in the middle of the city. It shouldn't have surprised us though, for when alcohol and ego is involved on the streets of Portland, raps are sure to follow as we soon learned. After a few minutes, we had a philosopher, a  producer, a bum and many other character's all happily competing for best rapper position, execpt for the bum, he was just sort of in the way. It must have gone on for a half an hour or so, eventually we just had to leave as they continued on, it was hilariously entertaining. Now, we are strong believers  in the list, and jokingly I write down a new "To Do" which involved getting a "F**k It" tattoo. Frazier and Jon freak out because they know this is joking matter!

As the night continues on, we meander our way through the downtown district, eat some great pizza, meet some new friends and then the story begins... Frazier and I walk into one of the bars, and as usual try to spot some girls to talk to. Before you know it we are conversing with two girls about our road trip and our list and then it comes up that one of us has to get this tattoo that says "F**k It,". They freak out and want nothing more than this to happen. Crap! I'm thinking to myself, as I look over at Frazier who has the exact same look on his face. I try explaining to these all to excited girls that I have no money and so therefore it won't be possible. They reply to my "Alamo statement" or last ditch effort to have them back off with a "Nonsense, we'll go ask for some money from people outside!!" Great! I have nothing as a rebuttal and so I hesitantly begin walking outside towards the crowds of people with my new supporters of our dumb decision of putting this "To Do" on "The List." After a few minutes and a few dollars tossed my way, I realized something. I realized that in the process of the girls helping us get money for this tattoo we were actually accomplishing another "To Do," which was to pan handle five dollars. By this point we are dangerously close to the tattoo shop. Within another minute I had the five dollars, but just my luck I was standing at the door of the tattoo shop, and then we entered. I look over at Frazier and he's scared as shit for me, I was a little buzzed and so I still was not too concerned, even though in back of my mind I'm thinking to myself, this tattoo artist really might follow through with this because of the entertainment value even though I only had five dollars. Frazier pulls me off to the side with cat like reflexes and exclaims, "We've got to get the hell out of here bro, let's run!" I look at him in an agreement and then we begin running. We ran like the Taraumara (The fastest runners in the world) and made it about ten blocks in less then a minute. No more worrying about the tattoo though; I was free! Or at least I thought so... Later on we were hungry from all that running and we decided to buy two quesadillas with the money that was pan handled for the tattoo, and while we were enjoying them to their fullest extent the panhandling girls pop up out of nowhere and smack the quesadilla out of Frazier's hand out of spitefulness over the whole incident. It blew our minds that we randomly ran into these girls... especially since we were so far from the tattoo shop, and that they caught us red handed with the food we bought with their hard earned pan handled money.

So that was it, that was our LA road trip 2010. In looking back, everything happened that we wanted to experience. Everything on the to do list except for running out of gas, and ride a unicycle, if only we would have put "Win the lottery" on the list as well! whomever is interested in a road trip like this, I have one suggestion, make a list. Put yourself out there just as we did, and you will become a believer as well.